I introduced my daughter to Anne Shirley this weekend and it inspired a few illustrations. I have to stop myself, or I would illustrate every scene. I adore Anne, but my daughter says “She talks too much. Not exactly a kindred spirit! Still, she’s enjoying […]
Author: Nicole Smeltzer
Self Portrait with Mask
I finished my self portrait today, wearing a mask from the Halloween box (almost time to break those decorations out for real!) It’s an oil painting on wood panel, 9’x12′. Still using Liquin instead of Galkyd, and I really miss the Galkyd! My Liquin is […]
Portrait of Sigourney
I recently finished a pet portrait for my co-worker, in memory of her dog Sigourney: My palette for this painting was titanium white, ivory black, raw umber, raw sienna, cadmium yellow pale, cadmium red light, ultramarine blue, and sap green.
Portrait of My Nephew
Here’s the finished portrait of my nephew in oils! I slowly glazed colors over the grisaille, building up layer by layer. My palette for this one was ivory black, titanium white, cadmium red light, alizarin crimson, raw umber, naples yellow, yellow ochre, cadmium yellow, and […]
Mother and Daughter Watercolor Portrait
I painted my first watercolor (double) portrait this month as part of the Casual Art Gang, a collective of creative friends who answer a monthly challenge. The Casual Art Gang is comprised of me, Carl Burkitt, Sam Schafer, and Helen Seymour. Our challenge this month […]
Finished Portrait of Mike
Glazing colors up from the grisaille, here’s the finished portrait of Mike: This was painted using the Zorn palette. I used titanium white, ivory black, cadmium red light and yellow ochre.
Grisaille of my nephew
I painted a grisaille portrait of my nephew this weekend, which will be the underpainting for the finished color portrait. I plan on glazing the colors for this one and the one of my husband Mike, in the coming weeks.
The Texture Alphabet
I have been making a texture alphabet! I finished it up yesterday. Here are all the letters, done in watercolor: This project was inspired by my daughter’s love of big, fancy words.
Grisaille of Mike
I’ve been slowly working on an oil portrait of my husband, Mike. Here’s the grisaille underpainting. When this is dry, I’ll start apply color, using the Zorn limited palette (ivory black, titanium white, yellow ochre, and cadmium red light).
Recent collages
That “Just finished a great book and now I’m expected to return to the real world??” feeling And a summer cold (somehow ten times worse than a winter cold)
The purple dog
I saw a greyhound taking a walk, and he inspired these three doodles all with water-soluble pencils on various papers:
More watercolors
Here are a few recent watercolor sketches… These two are the result of one of my painted garbage experiments. Here, I primed some paperboard from food packaging with white latex gesso, then painted with watercolor once it had dried: I like the effect. I love […]
Watercolor sketches
Some quick watercolor sketches done on scraps of previously painted paper, done between 4 and 5 am this week. I like them!
Oil Portraiture, Part 2
Time to paint up from the grisaille! (see Oil Portraiture, Part 1). Thin layers of oil mixed with medium (I used Galkyd to speed up drying) were glazed on, color by color. If you were following along on my instagram or twitter, you know this […]
Oil Portraiture, Part 1
I learned to paint from impressionists, alla prima style (wet on wet), but I have always longed to capture the luminous look of classical portraits you see in the art museum. I started researching that older style of painting, working up slowly with glazes, and […]
More from the sketchbook
(To see more, follow my instagram @nicolesmeltzer)
Weeklies
Not very many this time… I’ve been sick with the flu. Here’s what I managed:
More waterdoodles
I generally have 10-20 minutes to spare in the mornings before I dash off to work, and lately I’ve been spending those minutes doing sketches in watercolor to make my daughter laugh. Here are a few!
Mudpuddle
My friend’s son, the moment before he splashes mud everywhere.
Waterdoodles
Two quickly painted watercolors where I allowed myself minimal drying time and painted with one oversized brush to get a very loose, painterly feel. The top one is a doodle of my daughter and her puppy-love, and the bottom one is a doodle of […]
